Puot Kang Chol, South Sudan’s Minister of Petroleum, will join AEW 2024 to highlight efforts by the ministry to revitalize the oil sector through transformative infrastructure and investment initiatives

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, October 9, 2024/APO Group/ — 

South Sudan’s energy sector is undergoing a transformative phase, marked by strategic agreements focused on developing export routes, boosting refining capacity and expanding midstream infrastructure. To secure new investment in support of these goals, South Sudan’s Minister of Petroleum Puot Kang Chol will speak at the African Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energy 2024 conference – scheduled for November 4-8 in Cape Town. During the event, Minister Chol will discuss the nation’s progress in expanding its oil export infrastructure and explore broader investment opportunities in South Sudan’s energy sector.

One of the primary areas of focus for South Sudan is increasing regional petroleum trade. A key project that is currently in the planning stage is a $778-million infrastructure initiative developed in collaboration with Ethiopia. Aimed at enhancing oil transportation, the project includes the construction of a 220-km road linking Upper Nile State in South Sudan to the Ethiopian border. A second pipeline will also be developed to connect South Sudan with the Port of Djibouti. During AEW: Invest in African Energy 2024, Minister Chol will provide insight into the strategic investment opportunities across this project.

AEW: Invest in African Energy is the platform of choice for project operators, financiers, technology providers and government, and has emerged as the official place to sign deals in African energy. Visit http://www.AECWeek.com for more information about this exciting event.

South Sudan remains a highly attractive destination for investment, especially in its oil sector

South Sudan is pursuing an ambitious plan to increase its oil production to 230,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the short term, with a long-term goal of reaching 450,000 bpd. Despite being East Africa’s only major oil producing nation, the country currently relies heavily on pipeline infrastructure through Sudan. The existing PetroDar pipeline, which currently transports approximately 100,000 bpd of South Sudan’s Dar Blend crude oil from Blocks 3E and 7E to Port Sudan, has encountered significant challenges, including stoppages and gelling issues. These challenges could impact the country’s ability to efficiently achieve these production targets. As such, the country is focusing on projects that reduce this reliance by offering diverse export options for South Sudanese oil.

Specifically, South Sudan recently entered into discussions with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to advance the cross-border pipeline project with Ethiopia. These discussions include plans to increase crude oil production, build a new refinery and strengthen the oil distribution network, which is expected to significantly enhance South Sudan’s energy infrastructure and its ability to export oil efficiently. The overall aim is to maximize output at South Sudanese blocks, boosting regional trade and development. To further reduce the country’s dependency on existing infrastructure, South Sudan’s national oil company Nile Petroleum Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chinese firm Shengli Oilfield Keer Engineering and Construction Company. The companies are looking at building a modern oil refinery and storage facilities in the country, marking a step toward enhancing the nation’s energy capacity and attracting investment.

To address export challenges and bolster its midstream capacity, Nile Services and Logistics Company, a subsidiary of Nilepet, signed a MoU with oil and gas company Zenith Energy. This partnership focuses on exploring opportunities for constructing storage tanks, pipelines and crude oil storage facilities, which are essential to strengthening South Sudan’s energy security infrastructure and supporting the nation’s efforts to fully harness its oil resources. Alongside this, the Greater Nile Oil Pipeline, with a capacity of 250,000 bpd, remains a critical component of the country’s oil export strategy.

“South Sudan remains a highly attractive destination for investment, especially in its oil sector. The government’s proactive measures to enhance oil infrastructure, combined with strong partnerships with industry leaders, demonstrate a clear commitment to unlocking the country’s vast resources and driving economic growth. These initiatives present major opportunities for investors looking to engage in a market with immense potential,” states NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber.

At AEW: Invest in African Energy 2024, Minister Chol will discuss South Sudan’s advancements in oil export infrastructure and broader investment opportunities in the country’s energy sector. He will provide details on the ongoing projects and facilitate discussions with global stakeholders on potential investment avenues.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

The imageFORMULA DR-S350NW features Canon’s web embedded application, CaptureOnTouch Lite Web, which allows users to connect quickly and easily – and scan directly, using a computer or mobile web browser

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, October 9, 2024/APO Group/ — 

Today, Canon Europe expands its market leading portfolio with the new imageFORMULA DR–S350NW – a compact and secure A4 desktop scanner which is designed with speed, efficiency, and quality in mind. Suitable for businesses of every type and size, including education, legal, healthcare, and small offices, the scanner is easy and convenient to use and can operate without the need for a PC connection or the need to install any driver or software.  

The imageFORMULA DR-S350NW features Canon’s web embedded application, CaptureOnTouch Lite Web, which allows users to connect quickly and easily – and scan directly, using a computer or mobile web browser. Through the direct job scanning function, preconfigured scan workflow jobs can be setup on the scanner itself, allowing users to easily send documents to various output destinations, such as shared folders, Teams, email and FTP servers.

The new imageFORMULA DR-S350NW is designed to meet these needs, with its secure and efficient capabilities

The scanner comes equipped with a large 4.3” colour LCD touch panel screen and includes a customisable menu – this allows users to edit and check scanning jobs and preview scanned images directly, helping to improve quality control.  The new imageFORMULA DR-S350NW also offers flexible connectivity options with USB, LAN and WiFi interfaces and is compatible with both 2.5Ghz and 5GHz WiFi frequencies.

The imageFORMULA DR-S350NW is compliant with the latest WPA3 standards – which helps ensure robust encryption and the safeguarding of sensitive information against cyber threats. ​ The scanner also includes a number of advanced security features, such as user access restriction controls and document encryption technology, which protects information as it passes through the device, even in shared working environments. 

Marc Bory, Vice President, Digital Printing & Solutions, Marketing & Innovation at Canon Europe said: “Today’s hybrid working world brings challenges for many businesses – employees still need fast access to documents and information must be shared efficiently to ensure optimal collaboration. The new imageFORMULA DR-S350NW is designed to meet these needs, with its secure and efficient capabilities, it is ideal for supporting both small offices and employees of larger organisations, wherever they may be working.” 

Please find more information here: https://apo-opa.co/3YdXNoW

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA).

Over-55s globally will spend more than half (54.4%) of their media time online
Digital extensions of offline content channels see the fastest growth
Boomers’ social usage remains ‘appointment viewing’ taking 9% share of media time
Only 12% of Boomers say they feel ‘positive’ about advertising

WARC Global Advertising Trends: Baby Boomers’ big digital shift

9 October 2024 – Baby Boomers are the world’s wealthiest generation, however, brands are failing to keep up with their increasingly digital media habits, according to WARC Media’s latest Global Advertising Trends report, ‘Baby Boomers’ big digital shift’, released today.
 
Baby Boomers, defined for this report as adults born between 1946 and 1964, i.e. those aged between 60 and 78 today, do not spend ever-greater amounts of time on social platforms. Instead, older generations are switching from offline versions of content media to their online extensions – be it connected TV or online press.

This matters to marketers, because these formats are traded and measured differently, requiring a fresh approach to media planning.

Alex Brownsell, Head of Content, WARC Media, says: “Boomers are embracing digital content. While brands obsess over Gen Z, the affluent Baby Boomer generation is undergoing a media revolution. This requires advertisers to revisit long-held assumptions, and ensure digital media plans are tailored to older consumers’ increasingly unique habits.”

WARC’s Global Advertising Trends: ‘Baby Boomers’ big digital shift’ report, outlines key considerations for brands wanting to tap into this generation:

Baby Boomers’ shift to digital content accelerates:

In 2024, over-55s globally will spend more than half (54.4%) of their media time online

Marketers are in thrall to Gen Z. This may obscure substantial changes in media behaviour among older audiences.

Boomers’ media preferences are quickly evolving. According to GWI, in 2024, over-55s globally will spend more than half (54.4%) of their media time with online media – including digital components of traditional channels (e.g. connected TV, digital audio and online press) – up from 47.0% in 2020.

WARC Media compared media consumption behaviour among 45-54s a decade ago with today’s 55-64s – representing those born between 1959 and 1970. In 2013, less than a third (31.6%) of all media time was spent with digital channels; in a decade, that share has grown by more than 20 percentage points to 53% in 2023, propelled largely by behaviour changes brought on by COVID.

Paul Bland, Chief Digital Officer, Havas Media Network, says: “Media planners must ditch their habit of seeing Baby Boomers as living in a kind of media “statis”. If anything, older people are probably rising the most in terms of consumption of some of the most innovative digital properties around. It’s genuinely impacting the way we buy media as an agency.”

Social media remains appointment viewing for Boomers:

US consumption for 55-64s on social media is up 43.1% compared to TV streaming, up 195%

Baby Boomers are building digital media experiences distinct from younger audiences. While Baby Boomers are spending a little more time on social platforms, it remains a small part of their overall media habits.

By next year, 55-64s in the US are forecast to spend 93 daily average minutes with social media, per GWI, up 43.1% on the 65 minutes of consumption recorded among 45-54s in 2015. However, other areas of digital consumption are growing much faster: online TV streaming is up 195.0% over the same period, with Baby Boomers switching to Netflix and YouTube on their TV screens.

Facebook continues to be older consumers’ preferred network. According to YouGov, Baby Boomers make up the largest chunk (29%) of weekly Facebook users in the US, compared to only 9% of those accessing TikTok each week.

In the UK, social media consumption has largely plateaued among the 55+ audience, with average daily minutes falling from 58.3 in 2015 to 52.2 last year. Highly mobile-penetrated China leads on time spent with social media each day, but there too Baby Boomer usage has ebbed in recent years.

Baby Boomers are least receptive to advertising:

Only 12% globally feel ‘positive’ about advertising

Baby Boomers have the lowest average levels of ad receptivity in a cross-generation comparison. Only 12% globally say that they feel ‘positive’ about advertising, significantly below the 47% benchmark for all consumers.

Gonca Bubani, Global Thought Leadership Director – Media, Kantar, says: “Baby Boomers are generally just more negative about ads compared to the other generations we measured. As advertising receptivity goes up for everyone, they are on the lower end, and they remain there.”

Only 4.5% of Baby Boomers have downgraded to an advertising funded subscription video on demand (SVOD) tier on services like Netflix and Disney+, according to GWI, compared to more than a quarter (28.4%) of Gen Z respondents.

Rising advertising loads on TV have frustrated older audiences, but they appear more positive about newer social and video platforms, with TikTok ranked as their preferred option. This may be a result of having joined the app more recently and not experiencing it in its earlier, ad-lighter days.